Chapter 62: New Year's Eve
It was only natural that the vast Konoha Village wouldn't celebrate the New Year with just Minato's family and Kakashi. Elsewhere, in a familiar restaurant glowing with lantern light, the familiar trio—the Legendary Sannin—had reunited once again.
Outside the window, fireworks burst one after another, drawing cheers from the crowds below. Inside, the three sat before a feast of New Year's dishes, their reflections shimmering against the glass as they watched the ever-growing brilliance of Konoha's night sky.
Though Kato Dan's identity made his public appearance inconvenient, and he could only spend the New Year confined to the Biology Laboratory with a grinning Black Zetsu, Tsunade and her two teammates chose to welcome the year the old-fashioned way—with food, drink, and a bit of nostalgia.
Compared to the bleak frontier camps of the previous year, Konoha now radiated joy. Even if this peace was artificial, the smiles on people's faces were genuine. The ordinary citizens knew nothing of the hidden tensions beneath the surface. For them, life—fleeting as it was—had to be lived to the fullest.
Inside the private room, the three Sannin sat together, sake cups in hand, sharing quiet sighs and occasional laughter. During the New Year, even the greatest shinobi couldn't help reflecting on their struggles and triumphs from the year gone by.
"Cheers! To surviving another year!" Jiraiya grinned broadly, raising his cup toward the others.
"Don't look so gloomy! It's New Year's—just relax, have a drink, and stop worrying for once!"
"…The Biological Research Institute closed three days ago, didn't it?" Tsunade said, resting her chin on her palm.
"My experimental group was also dismissed three days ago," Orochimaru replied, his tone even.
"Huh? Then am I the only one in the Executive Department who's off today?" Jiraiya blinked in disbelief.
"That's about right," Orochimaru answered with an amused smile.
"It's not fair! We in the Executive Department work nonstop, and you two get to rest early? This isn't justice!"
"If you can produce an answer for our current project, I'd be happy to transfer the position to you," Orochimaru said casually, his eyes glinting. "We're at a bottleneck across several divisions."
"Forget it then!" Jiraiya waved his hands in surrender. "I can't even understand half the things you geniuses say."
Tsunade snorted softly, while Orochimaru chuckled behind his cup.
There were no discussions of global politics, no mention of impending wars or alliances. For one night, those matters were buried beneath the warmth of shared drinks and the sound of distant laughter.
Through the unseen efforts of countless people, Konoha now sat beneath an invisible shield of safety. It was fragile, yes—but it allowed its people to live with rare peace, however temporary.
Even the civilians and ordinary shinobi were learning to chase happiness again.
As fireworks blossomed outside, Jiraiya turned to the window, his expression softening. Amid the glowing red and gold crowd below, he spotted a pair of familiar figures—Minato and Kushina.
Beside them, trudging along with the aura of a man doomed to suffer, was Kakashi.
"Oh? Isn't that Minato, Kushina, and that gloomy Kakashi brat down there?" Jiraiya laughed.
"Do you want to call them up here to eat with us?" Orochimaru asked, feigning indifference.
"Forget it," Tsunade said with a faint smile, eyes lingering on the couple below. "They're enjoying themselves. Why ruin their moment? Though… you could invite Kakashi. He looks miserable."
"Please don't." Jiraiya grimaced. "If he comes up here, he'll just scold me for slacking off instead of practicing Sage Art. I want at least one peaceful night this year."
"Then you should work harder with him," Tsunade said flatly. "He came to me several times asking for additional experimental subjects. The least you could do is take responsibility for your student's needs."
"Aha… sorry, Tsunade." Jiraiya laughed awkwardly, scratching his cheek.
Orochimaru smiled faintly, sipping his sake as the other two bickered.
The three of them—heroes of a bygone era—had all changed in ways they couldn't have imagined six months ago. The world had shifted beneath their feet.
Tsunade, once among Konoha's strongest warriors, had been pushed out of frontline combat because of her hemophobia. Yet her unparalleled intellect made her the undisputed leader of Konoha's Human Science Research Division.
Orochimaru, her eternal rival, had delved even deeper into forbidden studies—his projects now spanned the fields of soul transfer, body modification, and chakra transformation.
As for Jiraiya, once the eternal wanderer and warrior, he had become the sole field operative among the Sannin. At first, he served as Konoha's "firefighter," rushing to suppress crises caused by the unstable use of the Blut Vene and Blut Arterie. But as the world's arms race slowed, that role became obsolete.
Recognizing his battle experience and mastery of Sage Art, the Hokage and Aizen had officially reassigned him to the Executive Division—a position where his instincts, strength, and leadership could shape the next generation of shinobi.
After his reassignment, Jiraiya became a direct subordinate of Kakashi, the leader of the Blut Arterie and Blut Vene development team.
Although it sounded bizarre, it was bizarre. In truth, Jiraiya had been doing everything he could to avoid Kakashi—and the young prodigy was growing increasingly irritated because of it.
The research and development of the Blut Vene required precise, real-time feedback for calibration, and Kakashi—ever the perfectionist—demanded nothing less than flawless data. Each time he encountered vague or inconsistent readings, his temper flared, sending shivers down the spines of everyone in the lab. Jiraiya, of course, was no exception.
On some days, you could even see a spectacle in Konoha: Kakashi, his face marked with glowing chakra traces from the Blut Vene, furiously chasing Jiraiya, who was escaping at full speed using Sage Art, the two of them darting through the streets for miles.
Over time, everyone grew accustomed to it, and strangely enough, it became one of those lighthearted memories that defined the era.
(At least, that's how Jiraiya tells it. Kakashi never comments.)
---
"But Jiraiya," Tsunade began, swirling the sake in her glass, "as an adult, shouldn't you take some responsibility? You can't keep running away from Kakashi forever."
She sighed, resting her cheek on her palm. "That kid genuinely wants to make something of himself. If you keep avoiding him, he might start resenting you. He's got real talent."
"I know that," Jiraiya muttered, looking away awkwardly. "But come on, I'm one of the Legendary Sannin, the same generation as you two. Taking orders from a seven or eight-year-old kid, posing for weird calibration tests—it's humiliating, isn't it?"
"I don't see the problem," Orochimaru said, his golden eyes glinting with amusement. "After all, the three of us take orders from someone even younger. Aizen should be around twenty-one now, correct? In a way, doesn't all of Konoha listen to him?"
"That's different," Jiraiya protested. "Aizen is Aizen. Kakashi is… Kakashi."
He waved his hand dramatically, as if to dismiss the comparison entirely.
The way he said it—his almost reverent tone when mentioning Aizen—made Tsunade and Orochimaru burst into laughter.
And perhaps Jiraiya wasn't wrong.
As the New Year dawned, Aizen's influence had grown far beyond any single department. His role had evolved from an essential pillar to something like the very air Konoha breathed—indispensable, invisible, and everywhere at once.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that if Aizen suddenly decided to pursue "the meaning of life" like Jiraiya often did, Konoha's entire administrative system would collapse for a week.
---
"Speaking of which," Tsunade said, glancing toward the window, "where is Aizen? Shouldn't people be looking for him by now? Last year, if I remember right, he had a dozen attendants shadowing him."
"I don't know," Orochimaru replied, shaking his head. "He said he'd found something truly important and then disappeared. He left a New Year's speech for the Hokage and a few reports before leaving."
He sighed quietly. "But it's not an issue. There's a whole squad of ANBU watching over us anyway."
"That's true," Tsunade said, leaning back with a faint smirk. "Still, I can't help but envy him. He's powerful, brilliant, and has an easy charisma. He's younger than us, yet he leads like a seasoned Kage. Honestly, he might be even smoother than the old man himself."
Jiraiya chuckled, picking up a few grilled sausages from the plate. "Heh, you're not wrong. It might sound rebellious, but sometimes I think Aizen could just take over Konoha. Besides his strength, he doesn't seem to have any weaknesses, right?"
"…," Orochimaru choked slightly on his drink.
"…," Tsunade coughed, averting her eyes.
"What? Why are you two coughing like that?" Jiraiya asked, looking genuinely puzzled.
The two of them exchanged a look—one that said best not to tell him the truth. After all, there were some things even Jiraiya didn't need to know.
So instead of answering, they both quickly changed the subject, steering the conversation toward lighter topics.
---
As the night deepened and the sake flowed, laughter filled the private room. Outside, in the square, the crowd began shouting in unison as enormous glowing numbers—formed by ninjutsu—counted down in the sky.
The New Year's countdown had begun.
Jiraiya stood up, flushed with drink and excitement, and pressed his hands against the windowpane as the final seconds ticked away.
"I hope this year will be even better!" he declared loudly. "I, Jiraiya, will become the most famous hero in the ninja world!"
"I just hope my experimental subjects stop trying to commit suicide," Tsunade muttered. "Anesthesia's getting harder to manage…"
"I have no special wish," Orochimaru said softly, gazing at the fireworks. "I'll simply wish for world peace."
Their voices were lost among the countless cheers rising from the streets.
As the final burst of light filled the sky, fireworks and ninjutsu intertwined in dazzling harmony, illuminating the village and every smiling face within it.
And so, another year came to a close.
This marked the first peaceful New Year since the death of Konoha's First Hokage—no wars, no mass casualties, just the quiet hum of life.
In the 44th Year of the Konoha Calendar, the Hidden Leaf Village flourished. The world, for once, was at peace.
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